Baxter County voters on Tuesday approved a short-term sales tax to fund an expansion of the Baxter County Detention Center and a long-term sales tax to fund the facility’s continued operation.

Unofficial results show Baxter County residents voting 2,846-1,232 to approve a 1 percent sales and use tax to be collected for eight months and the proceeds to be used to add 50 beds to the county’s 100-bed jail. Unofficial results also show voters approving a permanent 0.25 percent sales tax to fund the operation of the expanded jail facility.

“I thank everyone who voted in this special election,” Sheriff John Montgomery said. “I am humbled that the voters have recognized our challenges in running the jail and have resoundingly partnered with us to hold criminals accountable.”

The county’s 1 percent jail expansion tax will go into effect on March 1, 2018 and be collected through Oct. 31, 2018. On Nov. 1, 2018 — the day after the 1 percent sales tax ends — the quarter-percent jail operation sales tax will begin to be collected and remain in effect for perpetuity.

“My staff and I made a commitment to do whatever it took to inform our citizens of the difficult challenges of an overcrowded jail,” Montgomery said. “I believe once the voters were equipped with the facts, they understood the need and appreciated the unique approach of an eight-month tax. In a short eight months, we will have the funds to expand the jail without a bond issue.”

The jail’s expansion is estimated to cost $4.2 million with the 1 percent sales tax expected to generate $4.46 million and cover all construction costs. An early timeline for has construction beginning in spring 2018 and the expansion being completed in the summer or fall of 2019.

The county’s quarter-percent jail operations tax is estimated to provide $1.6 million per year to fund the expanded jail’s estimated $1.4 million budget. Surplus revenue from that tax will accrue in a fund for future construction.

The two-story expansion would add 12 two-man cells on the first floor that could also be used as single-inmate isolation cells if needed. The second floor would contain two 12-man dormitory-style housing areas.

As of midday Wednesday, the jail held 94 inmates and averages more than 90 inmates a day in 2017. It averaged 85 inmates per day in 2016 and 87 inmates per day in 2015.

The jail’s 100-bed capacity can be misleading, Montgomery said, because not all beds can be used at the same time. Empty beds in the women’s section cannot be used to house male inmates, and certain inmates — sex offenders, inmates with mental issues and troublesome inmates — have to be isolated from other inmates.

“If I put them in a two-person cell, I’ve just lost a bed,” Montgomery said. “When you have to isolate an inmate, often the jail has to cut someone loose because there’s just not enough room.”

The jail held 107 inmates on April 7, a record number for 2017, and briefly held 121 inmates for a time in 2015. When the jail is overcrowded, inmates must sleep on the floor.

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Boxes of ballots sit in the lobby of the Baxter County Courthouse waiting to be counted Tuesday night. More than 5,500 Baxter County residents voted in one of the two sales tax elections held Tuesday.(Photo: Scott Liles/The Baxter Bulletin)

“Let me be clear: I don’t care if they sleep on the floor. But the federal judges don’t like it, and it creates a major safety issue with our staff,” Montgomery said. “There have been times — temporarily — when we’ve had eight, nine, 10 people in a two-person cell. If you’re a jailer and there’s an issue in there and you’ve got to walk in there and take care of it? That’s the kind of safety issue we’re talking about.”

Expansion plans also call for a lobby to be added to the front of the jail. Presently, a corridor inside the jail serves as a waiting area on visitation days and is a security hazard.

Montgomery said the quarter-percent sales tax would allow the county to add eight additional jailers and one transportation officer, but stressed that the jail is presently understaffed and some of those hires would be used to catch the jail back up to full staff.

“I appreciate the faith and confidence that the voters have placed in my staff and me,” Montgomery said. “This community continues to show us that they are truly our partner and support our needs. Again, I applaud our voters for recognizing the need and partnering to hold the criminals accountable. Our citizens can rest assured that the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office will continue to work tirelessly to keep Baxter County a safe place to live and raise a family.”

Baxter County presently collects a 1 percent sales tax, with the county keeping 57.6 percent of that revenue and the remainder being divided among the county’s cities based on their population.

For the eighth-month period the jail expansion sales tax is in effect, Baxter County will be tied with Fulton County for the region’s highest county sales tax rate at 2 percent. Once that eight-month period is over, the sales tax rate will drop to 1.25 percent and would leave the county where it currently is, behind Fulton County (2 percent), Marion County (1.75 percent), and Searcy County (1.5 percent). Stone County collects a 1 percent sales tax and Izard County collects a 0.5 percent sales tax.